The 1997 Asian PGA Tour, titled as the 1997 Omega Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the third season of the Asian PGA Tour, one of the main professional golf tours in Asia (outside of Japan) alongside the long established Asia Golf Circuit.
| Duration | 6 February 1997 – 20 December 1997 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 22 |
| Most wins |  Prayad Marksaeng (2) |
| Order of Merit |  Mike Cunning |
| Players' Player of the Year | Prayad Marksaeng |
| Rookie of the Year | Ted Purdy |
← 1996 1998 → | |
It was the third season of the tour under a title sponsorship agreement with Omega SA, that was announced in September 1995.[1]
Schedule edit
The following table lists official events during the 1997 season.[2]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (US$) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Feb | Asian Honda Classic | Thailand | 300,000 | Tiger Woods (n/a) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Mar | Vietnam Open | Vietnam | 200,000 |  Andrew Bonhomme (1) |
n/a | ||
| 13 Apr | London Myanmar Open | Myanmar | 200,000 | Boonchu Ruangkit (4) |
n/a | ||
| 20 Apr | DFS Galleria Guam Open | Guam | 200,000 | Gerry Norquist (3) |
n/a | ||
| 27 Apr | Satelindo Indonesia Open | Indonesia | 200,000 | Craig Parry (1) |
n/a | New to Asian PGA Tour | |
| 18 May | Volvo China Open | China | 400,000 |  Cheng Jun (1) |
n/a | ||
| 10 Aug | Sabah Masters | Malaysia | 200,000 |  Des Terblanche (1) |
n/a | ||
| 17 Aug | SingTel Ericsson Singapore Open | Singapore | 200,000 |  Zaw Moe (1) |
n/a | ||
| 7 Sep | Philip Morris Asian Cup | South Korea | 400,000 |  Park No-seok (1) |
n/a | ||
| 14 Sep | Ericsson Asia-Pacific Masters | Indonesia | 500,000 | Darren Cole (1) |
16 | ANZ | New tournament |
| 21 Sep | Mild Seven Kuala Lumpur Open | Malaysia | 300,000 | Charlie Wi (1) |
n/a | ||
| 12 Oct | Yokohama Singapore PGA Championship | Singapore | 150,000 | Prayad Marksaeng (1) |
n/a | ||
| 19 Oct | ABN-AMRO Pakistan Masters | Pakistan | 200,000 | Thammanoon Sriroj (3) |
n/a | ||
| 26 Oct | Dubai Creek Open | UAE | 250,000 | Adrian Percey (1) |
n/a | ||
| 2 Nov | Hero Honda Masters | India | 200,000 | Ted Purdy (1) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 9 Nov | Ta-Shee Open | Taiwan | 250,000 |  Wang Ter-chang (1) |
n/a | New tournament | |
| 16 Nov | Volvo Masters of Malaysia | Malaysia | 200,000 | Christian Peña (1) |
n/a | New to Asian PGA Tour | |
| 23 Nov | Lexus Thai International | Thailand | 200,000 | Prayad Marksaeng (2) |
n/a | ||
| 30 Nov | Tugu Pratama Indonesian PGA Championship | Indonesia | 200,000 | Clay Devers (2) |
n/a | ||
| 7 Dec | Andersen Consulting Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | 350,000 |  Frank Nobilo (1) |
n/a | New to Asian PGA Tour | |
| 14 Dec | Omega PGA Championship | Hong Kong | 500,000 |  Rodrigo Cuello (1) |
n/a | ||
| 20 Dec | Volvo Asian Matchplay | Philippines | 250,000 | Des Terblanche (2) |
n/a | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit edit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[3][4]
| Position | Player | Prize money ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Cunning |
170,619 |
| 2 | Prayad Marksaeng |
123,805 |
| 3 | Lu Wen-teh |
114,716 |
| 4 | Ted Purdy |
111,573 |
| 5 |  Jeev Milkha Singh |
110,840 |
Awards edit
| Award | Winner | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Players' Player of the Year | Prayad Marksaeng |
[5] |
| Rookie of the Year | Ted Purdy |
[6][7] |
Notes edit
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Asian PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Asian PGA Tour members.
- ^ ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia.
References edit
- ^ Robinson, Spencer (15 January 1996). "Asian PGA looks back on a year of achievements". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
In September, though, Swiss watchmakers Omega came on board, signing a deal, reputed to be worth more than US$6 million, which ties them to the circuit for an initial three-year period.
- ^ "Roll of Honour". South China Morning Post. 11 December 1997. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "Asian PGA Rankings". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 16 December 1997. p. 40 (39 in paper). Retrieved 15 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cunning tops list". Tucson Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. 17 December 1997. p. 34 (4D in paper). Retrieved 31 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Robinson, Spencer (17 December 1997). "Zhang and Cheng poised for matchplay showdown". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
While Cunning won the Merit title, Prayad finished second and was named as the Players' Player of the Year.
- ^ Campbell, Al (11 December 1997). "Tiger-tamer Ted stakes claim for best rookie". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Ted Purdy". Arizona Wildcats. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
Ted was laboring on the Asian Tour from 1997-2003. In 1997 he was the Indian Master Champion and was named the Rookie of the Year on the Asian PGA Tour.